'Here, Honey, I Rented You an African'

By now you may have seen the story from Friday's New York Times about a NYC woman who got her husband a Kenyan for his 40th birthday. In case you haven't, and are too lazy to click the link, here's the gist: A NYC woman got her husband a Kenyan for his 40th birthday.

Specifically, the woman Tina Chambers, only "rented" a Kenyan runner, Richard Kiplagat, to run with her husband, Richard. According to the article, Richard is an avid runner, and he and his wife are always trying to outdo each other with outlandish birthday gifts:

The two took a trip to Africa in 2000. A couple of years later, he had a wing of a school built in her name in Tanzania. Last year, he adopted an elephant in her name through a wildlife federation.

So this year, Tina went shopping for a Kenyan—"No knock on Ethiopians," Tina said, but it had to be a Kenyan—and got Kiplagat for $400. So the Kenyan and the birthday boy ran eight miles together and had some lunch, while Kiplagat marveled at the Chambers's shag rug. (“Wow,” he said. “It’s the American dream.”)

Overall, the article took the "ha, isn't this quirky and neat?" angle, and took pains to describe it thusly:

It was like a take-home fantasy camp, akin to hiring a Brazilian soccer star to kick the ball around in the backyard, or a Chinese table-tennis champion to play a few games in the basement.

A Chinaman in the basement? Ha. Quirky. Neat.

Or... maybe not.

The more I thought about it, the more distasteful I found this story. Once the novelty wore off—and it wore off pretty quick—I was left with a residual discomfort that I can't seem to shake. I don't think it's purely a class or wealth thing. I don't think it's purely a racial thing. ("Happy birthday, honey; I rented you an African.") It's not an ostentatious-indulgence-in-a-recession thing. I guess it's a little bit of all of the above.

Mostly it just seems... tacky.

Am I alone? Anyone else have second thoughts about this story? Or am I being overly sensitive?

Leave your thoughts in the Comments section, below. And if you're looking for some cool gifts for runners, but can't afford a Kenyan, we have lots of suggestions.

Mark RemyMark Remy has been with Runner’s World since January 2007—for the first 5 ½ years as executive editor of RunnersWorld.com, and currently as a writer at large.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Runner's World participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.